I don't even understand for sure if the man is supposed to be a good man or a bad man. Does he have all those balloons because he is trying to help little children to get their balloons back? So is he a good guy, but the parents don't trust him? Why? Because he is black? He doesn't look scary to me. Maybe it is something we would understand if we were from that particular culture where this commercial is from?

I also want to know if there really is such a thing as "Black Herbal Toothpaste" and again, what does that even mean? Is the toothpaste black in color? Is it for black people to use and, if so, why would they have a different kind of toothpaste than anyone else? And do we really need our toothpaste to contain herbs in it? This whole thing is just so strange to me - I am going to go do some internet research to see if I can find out something about it.....if I do, I'll come back and report here.

Okay, I guess this is a real product, and that the color of the toothpaste is black. It does appear that several people find this ad to be racist, though (and I agree). Apparently the woman is afraid of the man because he is black! So I guess the point is that we should not be afraid of the toothpaste just because it is black. The ad apparently comes from Thailand, based on the information I found about it.

Kind of scary that an ad like this would still be made in this day and age, but I know there is still a lot of racism out there, so maybe it is not so surprising after all.

One person mentioned that the guy sleeping on the toothbrush means that he turns into the toothpaste.

Apparently the woman is afraid of the man because he is black! So I guess the point is that we should not be afraid of the toothpaste just because it is black. The ad apparently comes from Thailand, based on the information I found about it.

Well, this totally was what I got out of it too and was going to write exactly this before I read your last post amyk. This is a whole 'appearances can be deceiving thing', emphasizing that apparently this has happened time and time again to him, that he has all these childrens' balloons. This in and of itself as a 'social' ad, a comment on racism itself, is not at all offensive or racist in my opinion. What IS offensive is that such a heavy topic is about toothpaste.

But to me the fact that they throw in this line "appearance can be deceiving" makes it seem racist. Because the implication is that there is something innately scary about being a black man, i.e. that black men's appearances are threatening or scary or whatever. The way I take it, I do not feel like it is a good comment on racism.

Right, I see exactly what you're saying amyk, since we are automatically to 'assume' that because the line says 'appearances can be deceiving' that somehow the black man should be scary to begin with. I do 'get it', and I can see where it could be taken as racist. I guess because the mother's reaction is simply a sad comment on our society of the generations, I didn't take it as such. But I can see where many do see it as being racist. Whatever the case, this is one warped toothpaste commercial!

I also do not understand the point of the guy having all the balloons at his home. That actually makes it seem more strange to me. Does he just hang around waiting for kids to lose their balloons and then try to give them back and every single mother prevents her kid from taking back their balloon? Maybe they were trying to reinforce that this is one super-nice guy, always trying to rescue kids' balloons for them, but I would think by this time, I would have given up if I were that guy. Maybe that is supposed to be the point, i.e. that he is so nice and so optimistic he just believes that one day people will change and he will be able to actually return a balloon to a kid.

I also do not understand the point of the guy having all the balloons at his home. That actually makes it seem more strange to me. Does he just hang around waiting for kids to lose their balloons and then try to give them back and every single mother prevents her kid from taking back their balloon? Maybe they were trying to reinforce that this is one super-nice guy, always trying to rescue kids' balloons for them, but I would think by this time, I would have given up if I were that guy. Maybe that is supposed to be the point, i.e. that he is so nice and so optimistic he just believes that one day people will change and he will be able to actually return a balloon to a kid.

Yep, I really think that's it. No one would ever do that in reality, but they're trying (without really succeeding well, I might add ), to make a point.

amyk wrote:

I am probably way over-analyzing this commercial!

LOL, you and me both! But it's not an ad you'd ever see here in the USA, that's for sure, so you can't help but kind of try to dissect it a bit. Our ads are way less 'out there' than a lot of the foreign ones, that's for sure.